Washing-machine



W. R. CLARK.

MAHIN No. 416,569. I

Patentzed Deo. 3, 1889.

Y the operator to immerse the hands in the water or directly grasp and rub the fabrics,

. soreness and the tediousness of grasping and 2.0

, to be free to be manually reciprocated longipressure-board to legs extended below the UNITED `STATES PATET OFFIcI-L.V

WILLIAM R. CLARK, OF SIDELL, ILLINOIS.

WASHING- MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,569, dated December 3, 1889.

l Application led .I une 11, 1889. Serial No. 313,869. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, WILLIAM R. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sidell, in the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wash-Boards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the' art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in wash-boards; and it has for its object to provide improved mechanism, which will be hereinafter described and claimed, for pressing and rubbing the fabrics without requiring which thus relieves the operators hands of rubbing the clothes. t

With these ends in view,'and such others as pertain to my invention, it consists of a stationary rub -board and A a reciprocating pressure-board, which is connected to and guided by the rub-board in such a manner as tudinally on the rub-board, the opposing faces of the rub and pressure boards being roughened to adapt them to act efficiently and thoroughly on the fabrics in order to cleanse them. I prefer to connect the reciprocating rnb-board and to provide longitudinal grooves I in said legs,in which grooves are fitted guidepins that are securedin reciprocating bars, to which bars the pressure-board is connected, so that the bars and pressure-board move and operate together. The pressure-board is provided with a handle, by means of which it can be grasped and operated by hand, and without requiring the hands to be immersed or placed in the hot water and suds; and in order to enable the fabrics to be readily placed between and removed from the rub and pressure boards, as Well as to accommodate fabrics of different sizes and thickness, I prefer to pivot or hinge the pressure-board to the reciprocating bars, so that the pressureboard can be swung or turned on its pivots laterally away from the rub-board without disturbing the positions of reciprocating bars, which are connected to the legs of the rub'- board.

Under ordinary circumstances the force or i pressure exerted on the reciprocating pressure board by the hand of the operator in moving the latter longitudinally of the rubboard is sufficient to properly rub and cleanse the fabrics between the stationary and removable boards; but if it is desired to increase this pressure, or to relieve the operator of the necessity of forcing the pressure-board on the fabrics and only require the exertion of energy to reciprocate the board, I may employ a spring `or springs arranged to nominally force the pressure-board toward the rubboard.

- To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I will now proceed to a detailed description thereof, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective View. Figx 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken centrally throughthe board. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on a plane at right angles to that on which Fig. 2 is taken and on the dotted line 0J 0c of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a detail View showing the spring for forcing the reciprocating board toward the rub-board.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the iigures of the drawings, referring to whichl designates the stationary rub-board,which is secured in the usual manner within a frame 2, havingits sides extended below the end of the rub-board to form legs 3.

4 is the reciprocating pressure-board,which is arranged over the rub-board and fitted between the sides of the frame 2, the length of this -pressure-board being less, preferably, than that of the rub-board to adapt said press ure-board to have a certain amount of movement or play over the rub-board, and thus at all times be in 4position to act on the fabrics. The opposing faces of the rub and pressure boards are roughened or corrugated, preferably by means of coarse or deep wide grooves in the rub-board and narrow 1 ine grooves in the pressure-board; but I do not restrict myself to this particular form of cor- IOO rugations, as it is evident that they can be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The pressure-board is provided at its lower edge, at the sides thereof, with depending lugs 5, which are recessed on one of their lateral faces to form tongues, which lit in corresponding recesses in the upper ends of the reciprocating bars 6 6', the tongues on the board and bars fitting in corresponding recesses, and are pivoted together, as at 7, to form hinge-joints between the reciprocating bars and the pressure-board, whereby the pressure-board maybe moved laterally of the rub-board.

In the opposing faces of the legs 3 of the stationary rub-board are provided longitudinal guide-grooves S 8', which extend from a point at or above the lower end of the rubboard near to the lower extremity of the legs, and these slots are inclined or arranged obliquely to a line drawn centrally through the legs, in order to enable the reciprocating pressure-board to properly act on the fabrics placed between the two coacting boards. Guidepins 9 are fitted in these slots of the frame 2, so as to slide freely therein, and these pins are secured to the reciprocating bars at their lower ends, whereby the reciprocating bars and the pressure-boards are connected to the frame of the stationary rub-board in such a manner as to be capable of moving freely on said rub-board in a longitudinal direction.

The pressure-board is provided with a handle 10, which is rigidly secured to the back thereof in any suitable manner toadapt said board to be operated without requiring the operator to grasp the hot fabrics by hand.

The reciprocating bars are connected by means of a tie-bar 11, which is rigidly secured to the bars and serves to keep them in position and relieve the pivots or hinge-joints of undue strain.

In order to reduce the friction and wear between the reciprocating bars and the legs of the stationary rub-board,I provide metallic wear-plates 12, which are fitted in longitudinal recesses in the legs ush with the inner faces thereof, and each wear-plate has a longitudinal slot 13, which aligns with the groove in the leg to permit one of the guidepins on the reciprocating pressure-board to enter and operate in said groove.

In order to hold the pressureboard in proper position against the rub-board and maintain the parts compactly together, I employ pressure-springs 14, which are preferably of the class known as leaf-springs. One end of the spring is secured rigidly to one of the reciprocating bars G', and said spring extends across and beyond the pivot-joint between the reciprocating bars and pressure-board, as clearly shown in the detail view, Fig. 4.

The operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings.

I would have it understood that I do not restrict myself to the precise details of construction and form and proportion of parts herein shown and described as an embodiment of my invention, as I am aware that changes and alterations therein can be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention, the essential feature of which is the reciprocating' pressure-board combined with and connected to a stationary rub-board in such a manner as to slide freely over said rub-board.

I am aware that prior to my invention a reciprocating washing-machine had been constructed with a stationary corrugated board having raised sides, in which are formed longitudinal grooves which extend from end to end of the corrugated surface of the board, and that a reciprocating board has been arranged to contact with the stationary rubboard and provided with guide-pins which t in the longitudinal grooves to connect the stationary and reciprocating boards together and permit the latter board to move freely back and forth.

In my improved wash-board I have provided the stationary board with extended or depending legs, and in these legs are formed longitudinal grooves which terminate at points below the corrugated working-surface of the stationary board. Between the extended depending legs are itted reciprocating bars which are held in their proper positions relative to each other and the legs of the stationary boards by means of an intermediate tie-bar, and these reciprocating bars lie flush with the legs and are connected to the latter by the guide-pins. The longitudinal guide-grooves are inclined or lie in a plane at one side of the working-surface of the stationary rub-board, and to the free ends of the reciprocating bars is pivotally connected the lower end of the reciprocating board, whereby the reciprocating board is adapted to operate over the entire working-surface of the stationary board without necessitating the extension of the guiding devices above the workingsurface of the stationary board, where they are liable to be caught by the fabrics being operated on, and the reciprocating board is held in such relative position to the station ary board that it can be uniformly depressed throughout its entire length and breadth against the stationary rub-board, which end is attained by reason of the pivotal connection of the reciprocating board to the reciprocating bars and the bars to the legs on the stationary board.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. A wash-board, substantially as described, consisting of a stationary rub-board, having the extended depending legs 3, which are provided with longitudinal grooves 8', that terminate at points below the working-surface of the stationary board and are arranged ina IOO IIO

plane at one side of said Working-surface, the parallel reciprocating bars 6 6', fitted betWeen grooved legs and united rigidly to each other y forth.

2. In a Wash-board, the combination of a stationary rub-board, having its legs provided with longitudinal grooves, the reciprocating connected bars 6 6', tted between the opposingn faces of the grooved legs and having the guide-pins Which are itted in said longitudinal grooves, a pressure-board pivoted to the upper ends of the reciprocating bars, and the pressure-springs carried by said bars and bearing on the pressure-board to normally -force the pressure-board toward the rubboard, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

n WILLIAM-R. CLARK. Witnesses:

L. J. GILGIs,

WALKER T. BUTLER. 

